Composition and Bioactivity of Essential Oils from Leaves and Fruits of Myrtus communis and Eugenia supraxillaris (Myrtaceae) Grown in Egypt

Comparative investigation of hydro-distilled essential oils from leaves (L) and fruits (F) of Myrtus communis (M) and Eugenia supraxillaris (E) (Fam. Myrtaceae) grown in Egypt was carried out; including: yield, physical characteristics, chemical composition and certain bioactivities. GC-FID and GC-MS analyses revealed that the oil samples differ in composition and percentages of certain components. The total number of identified constituents was 23, 21, 21 and 17 in EL, EF, ML and MF oil samples; representing: 98.6 %, 98.5 %, 90.3 % and 91.8 % of the total oil composition, respectively. Oxygenated compounds were found dominant in EF, ML and MF oil samples, being 81.4 %, 61.5 % and 71.5 %; respectively, and 13.5 % in EL sample. All the oil samples appeared dominated by monoterpenoids, among which limonene (21.8 %), eugenol (35.5 %), 1,8-cineole (27.2 % and 29.6 %) are major in EL, EF, ML and MF; respectively. Sesquiterpenes are minors in all samples, comprising mainly: a-humulene in the 2 leaf samples EL and ML; while a-selinene and trans-caryophyllene recorded the highest sesquiterpenoid percentile for EF and MF samples; respectively. Certain bioactivities including: cytotoxicity against different tumor cell lines, antimicrobial, and antiwormal activity against Allolobophora caliginosa were evaluated and found variable in the leaves and fruits of the two plants.